Belinda would boast to her colleagues how proud she was that her spouse didn’t have to work. She earned enough for the family and they lived well. Once the children were in full day school, that song changed. Her family company was bought out and staff redundancy planning was well underway. Belinda’s encouragement of her husband to find full time employment was falling on deaf ears. The chasm between her needing him to find suitable work to help support the family and his feeling entitled to continue to be a stay at home spouse continued to grow. Five years on, Belinda decided to separate.http://ow.ly/u7nY0

Today’s family law negotiations are all about the numbers. The value of assets, the amount of support, and the cost of living. The numbers tell who will receive how much, directs us to consider tax considerations, and the timing of the payments.http://ow.ly/sAmTI

Negotiating a marriage contract to treat one particular asset a special way is a common method to protect a business like Jacques’ which was built from scratch with few resources to a successful international organization. Rachel understands and agrees that Jacques’ 50% business interest which he will bring into the marriage belongs to him. But, she asks, what about her advice as an engineer without salary, her contribution as a sounding board 24 / 7, her creation and involvement in regular focus groups to test new product ideas, and all the other works she does without pay? Isn’t that worth something?http://goo.gl/fbUbDf